"...if it comes to a choice between regulated studies on a few animals and a treatment for an incurable disease... most people reluctantly make the same choice."

Professor Chris Higgins is the Director of the Medical Research Council Clinical Sciences Centre. Quoted by BBC science reporter Rebecca Morelle, he comments on the reaction of the scientific community to the publication of the Weatherall Report in December 2006. The study was initiated by the Academy of Medical Sciences , the Royal Society, the Medical Research Council and the Wellcome Trust.

12th June 2007

"Although nobody likes the idea of any research using non-human primates, if it comes to a choice between regulated studies on a few animals and a treatment for an incurable disease affecting hundreds of thousands of people, most people make the same choice."